Romania

On Friday the Vatican announced that Pope Francis has added yet another trip to the end of his busy spring itinerary and will travel to Romania for a 3-day visit at the end of May, marking the fifth international trip on the schedule so far this year.

A 22-year-old Romanian peasant has taken a step closer to sainthood as a “martyr to chastity,” six decades after she was murdered while resisting rape during the communist-era repression of the Catholic Church.

A constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman was recently approved by the overwhelming majority of the lower house of parliament in Romania. The Coalition for the Family collected 3 million signatures from Romanian citizens in support of the constitutional language.

After myriad difficulties the Church in Romania has faced, it is now experiencing a “beautiful rebirth,” Pope Francis said, with new challenges to face. But “this story, made of great witnesses of faith and moments of trial, of severe winters and of flourishing springs, belongs to you,” he said.

Two Romanian senators submitted a draft bill on Thursday calling for a referendum on changing the constitution to specify that marriage is a union between a man and a woman, after a petition signed by almost 3 million people, but the party leader is asking them to stand down.